Analysts’ stock ratings and the predictive value of news and Twitter sentiment

Abstract

This study investigates the relationship between the stock ratings of professional analysts and company-level sentiment. I find that investor sentiment expressed in tweets and news articles displays a positive relationship with professional analysts’ stock ratings and that the sentiment conveyed through tweets has a stronger effect than the sentiment from conventional news articles. Furthermore, the effect of sentiment derived from tweets and news articles on analysts’ ratings is stronger when the sentiment valence is the same (negative or positive) and weaker when the sentiment valence differs. The findings shed light on the link between investor sentiment and analysts’ stock ratings by demonstrating that analysts’ stock ratings are influenced by investor sentiment.